Israel arrests almost 600 Palestinians in August: NGO

Businesses and shops are closed in the city of Ramallah during a strike across the Israeli occupied Palestinian West Bank in support of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike being held in Israeli jails, on June 8, 2014 (AFP Photo/Abbas Momani)

Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Israeli forces detained 597 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem in August, raising the number of Palestinians in Israeli prisons to more than 7,000, the Palestinian Prisoners Club said.

The majority of the arrests took place in East Jerusalem and Hebron, which is situated in the south of the West Bank, the NGO, based in Ramallah, said in a statement.

Many were arrested during demonstrations in support of Palestinians in Gaza, which was the focus of a deadly 50-day war between Israel and Hamas, the de facto ruler of Gaza.

Since the June kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the southern West Bank, at least 2,000 Palestinians have been questioned and detained, according to the NGO.